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Gordon leered my way like a hawk that had found its prey.

Oh no, ohh no. I had to hide!

I immediately moved myself behind somebody else. Gordon had met my eyes earlier but it was only for a moment. Maybe he wouldn’t find me…

I hadn’t had much hope, but I still tried my best to hide. Unfortunately he was heading directly for me.

Not long after… The footsteps stopped. Gordon was standing right in front of me.

“Ku ku! Foolish girl! Did you really think you could hide from me!?” he laughed in amusement.

O-Oh crap. What now?

As long as he didn’t remember my face I was clear. Even though I didn’t think it would amount to anything, I kept looking downwards.

“Come, girl. Show me your face!”
“…”
“Girl! Hurry up and show Lord Gordon your damned face!”

I guess one of his lackeys was offended by my lack of reaction because he grabbed me by the hair and forced my head upwards.

Kuh! Keep your dirty hands away from a girl’s hair!

“Hohh! I had begun to believe that this city has nothing but homely wenches, but here you are!”

A lustful smile spread across Gordon’s face as he ran his gaze over my body. Uu, this is disgusting.

“Lord Gordon. It seems like today wasn’t a waste after all.”
“Indeed. I suppose we mustn’t underestimate the Capital. Just as I was lamenting the choice of women, this fine prize came along,” spoke Gordon contentedly, holding my chin in his fingers.

I was in some deep s̲h̲i̲t̲ now.

At this rate I was going to end up like Sammy. Although I was seething inside, my only choice was to demean myself and ask for forgiveness.

“I-If I offended you, please accept my apologies. P-, Please have mercy…”
“I think, no. A lowly commoner like you slandered a Duke like me. It would be extremely ordinary for you to go to the execution block for that, but in light of your beauty I will make an exception and forgive me. Show some gratitude.”
“G-, Gratitude…?”
“Gratitude. Because not only am I especially pardoning you, you now have the honor of serving me as my sex slave.”
“I-, I’m afraid I must decline.”

“Oh? If you’d prefer we can still slay you on the spot.”
“Eek!? No thank you. P-, Please don’t do that.”
“It appears that we have settled on ‘sex slave’. I’ll have you serve me morning, noon and night.”
“Uu, uu,”
“Still dissatisfied? Then perhaps I’ll have your family take responsibility in your stead. Your parents and siblings can all hang for you.”
“P-Please stop! My family hasn’t done anything!”
“Ku ku! You should prepare yourself. You never had a choice to begin with.”
“H-, How could you…”

I fell to my knees in despair.

“Aahh~ And you had better not kill yourself like the girl from the day before. I would be most unhappy if you died while I was having my fun.”
“S-, Sammy…”
“Oh, that was her name. Ku ku, she had a wonderful scream. I’m expecting a lot from you too.”
“Kihihi, Lord Gordon, that really was a masterpiece. Remember the look on her fiancé’s face as he lay next to her?”
“Kuahahahah! Don’t remind me! You’re killing me, man!”

The men around me all began to guffaw again. None of them felt a shred of guilt about driving a girl to suicide.

W-What unbelievable b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲s̲. And they f̲u̲c̲k̲i̲n̲g stank. Even the civilians around us were frowning.

“Now then. Let’s hurry back to my estate so I can have you serve me, girl.”

Apparently having had his fill of laughter, Gordon grabbed my wrist with a grin and pulled me along with his rough hand.

Disgusting. Disgusting. Disgusting.

“P-, Please wait. I’m Remilia’s friend, you know!”

Remilia was like the natural enemy of villains like these. Not only was she the Captain of the Public Safety Force but she was also the descendant of a Hero. There was no way they wouldn’t know her.

Fiend! If you get too carried away don’t blame me when my friend Remilia comes to punish you! I faced Gorgon head-on with a triumphant expression. He let go, so at least it had some effect. Soon his face warped into another smirk though…

“Remilia’s friend? You’re lying!”

His lackeys began screaming angrily as well.

“Stop lying!”
“If you spout anymore b̲u̲l̲l̲s̲h̲i̲t̲ we’ll kill you!”

Hmph. Lie? They could act tough all they wanted. Once Remilia heard about this, it was all over for them.

Ah!? But unless these idiots believed me they wouldn’t let me go.

“It’s true,” said Milley. “Tilea is Captain Remilia’s friend. I’ve seen them chatting quite a few times. Sometimes the two of them eat out together too.”

Ooh, thank you Milley. She risked being targeted by the Fiend just to save me. I’m so happy. She really was a great person.

“Shut up, hag! You think we’ll believe you? You’re clearly lying for this girl!”
“I-It’s no lie. If you keep doing things like this, Captain Remilia will arrest you.”
“What was that, you hag!?”

Things started to descend into an argument as the other onlookers used this as a chance to complain as well.

Was the public on my side then…?

But despite the mention of Remilia, Gordon was unperturbed. In fact he was still smirking complacently at me.

“Ku ku. Let’s say that you really are her friend, so what?”
“Eh?”
“Nobody but the higher ups know, but Remilia is set for execution.”
“Why!?” I shouted.

Why? Why? Why was Remilia going to be executed!

“Why wouldn’t she be! The Capital was half-destroyed in that last attack by the demons. If the Captain of the Public Safety Force doesn’t take responsibility then who will.”
“B-But, lots of people were saved thanks to Remilia.”
“And so what. Out of all the Public Security Force members, only that coward is left alive. Brazenly surviving while her men died!”
“Remilia is the Royal Family’s greatest servant!”

“Greatest!? Reality proved that she was an incompetent, no match at all for the demons. Remilia herself admitted as such.”
“B-But… That’s so unfair.”
“Ku ku, how about you stop worrying about Remilia and start worrying about yourself?” he sneered.

Uu. Scary. How did I end up targeted by the legendary Fiend…

“Uuu…”
“Too scared to talk, now? I think I’ll make sure to thoroughly teach you what happens when you defy me.”
“He he, what are you going to do, Lord Gordon?”
“What indeed? I think I’ll start with a little training once we reach the mansion. Take her away!”
“S-Stop―”
“Please wait, Lord Gordon.”

Gordon stopped.

“What is it, Nyger?” he asked.
“Members of the Public Safety Force are headed this way.”
“Tsk. The squad that didn’t take my bribes then.”
“Yes sir. The so-called ‘Loyalist Committee for the Extermination of Demons’.”

Loyalist Committee for the Extermination of Demons!? Isn’t that the committee that I attend meetings for every month!?

Thank goodness. Remilia’s comrades. I’m saved.

I let out a sigh of relief.

A few minutes later a few squads of cavalry arrived.

Among them I recognized Raiden Jaft and Mose Denper from the meetings. So glad. Raiden always seemed surly to me, but in situations like this he felt so reliable.

“Settle down, please,” yelled Denper from horseback.

Ohh! For somebody with his build he was shockingly imposing. That was an elite of the Sorcerers Regiment for you.

“And who in the hell do you think you’re speaking to!” replied Gordon.
“You may be a Duke, but those who disrupt the peace will be punished without exemption!” Denper said.

“F̲u̲c̲k̲ off, boy! Lord Gordon, let’s take them down,” said a lackey.
“Indeed. Then kill―”
“I believe we should retreat for now, Lord Gordon.”
“Nyger? And why?”
“We have the advantage in numbers, but the terrain favors cavalry. If we do battle we will suffer.”
“Hmph. If that’s your advice Nyger, then I shall retreat. Come, men. We leave.”
““Sir!””

Gordon and his followers began to walk off. But along the way, Gordon turned around and spoke.

“After Remilia’s execution, it shall be your turn next,” he spat, “I will see every one of you hang.”

Haha… I managed to protect my chastity…

“Are you all right, Tilea?” Denper asked gently.
“I am. Thank you very much, Denper.”
“That was some terrible luck. Were you hurt at all?”
“No, I’m fine, thank you.”

Speaking with him warmed my heart.

At first I had been wracked with guilt and stomach pains after attending the meetings, but I’m glad I did now. Honestly, truly glad. Because I attended I got to know so many kind people.

Oh, that’s right. I needed to ask about Remilia…

“U-Um, about what Gordon said about Remilia’s execution. Is it true?”
“Unfortunately it is.”
“T-, That can’t be…”
“We lost. Gordon has been waiting all this time for revenge against the Royal Family. Not long ago he seized royal authority and used it to arrest Captain Remilia.”
“Is that even possible?”
“Mmn. We’ve been busy preparing for war against the Manafint Confederation so we were careless against internal enemies. That’s probably how he wormed his way in.”

“Wha-!? We’re going to war!?”
“We are. His Majesty was never the kind of fool to do something like this though.”
“What do you mean?”
“Starting a war with another country. Even if he was preparing for war, he wasn’t so incompetent as to lose control of his own government.”

Mmm… I guess the damage from the demon raid ran even deeper than expected. Was the stress getting to the King…?

Remilia was more important though. What I cared about was whether or not we could rescue Remilia.

“Isn’t there some way we can save her?”
“Not at the moment. Right now Gordon is taking down our allies left and right.”
“Gordon?”
“He’s ruthless against his foes. Now that he has his eye on you, I think it would be safer for you to quickly leave the Capital.”
“I-, I can’t just suddenly go…”
“Gordon will never willingly let his prey escape. You need to take your family and go.”

Denper made an extremely good point. Mum had already told me the kind of things the Fiend did.

In that case I needed to leave, and soon. First I’d head back to the restaurant to pack, and then take Timu and go. Everyone else in the Evil God Army could wait until things cooled down, and then leave for the countryside.

After I thanked Denper, I told Milley that I was leaving the Capital and then ran for the store.

But when I arrived somebody was standing in front of it.

Who the hell?

“Heyyy there! Why the hurry?”

This vulgar voice… There was no forgetting it. This man was one of Gordon’s followers.

The man approached me with an obscene look on his face.

Why was this man in front of my store?

“W-Why are you…?”
“Why? Well I spoke to some of the locals. Asked for a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty living around here.”
“W-Why…”
“Ku ku, I guess being a beauty isn’t all good things. With how popular you are at your store you’re practically a celebrity! Ahahahah!”

Kuh! Oh no… They knew where we lived. I should have headed straight here and then left. I wasted too much time speaking to Milley when I should have come straight here.

Uu, but Milley was crying and worrying about me. I couldn’t just leave her like that.

“Well…? Did you come here for something?”
“A message from Lord Gordon. Tomorrow he’s coming to get you. If you aren’t there, he’ll kill your family and everybody you know.”
“H-, How could he?”
“I suppose I should let you know that we have plenty of men in the gatekeeper guards too. You couldn’t escape even if you wanted to.”

With that, the lackey left with uproarious laughter.

Goddammit, what was I going to do?

This was going to be Sammy all over again.

A sex slave to the Fiend… No! How could I ever service a man! Absolutely impossible. Just thinking about that scumbag was enough to make my hair stand on end.

And if the Fiend had his eye on me, then Timu was in danger too. Just thinking about him trying to hurt her made me so angry I almost blacked out.

What was I going to do?

Fleeing the Capital was impossible for the moment. If the man from before was telling the truth then the gatekeepers were filled with his men. Remilia was awaiting execution and couldn’t help right now. If anything, I wanted to help her.

Not that I could. Right now I could only hope that the Loyalist Committee for the Extermination of Demons would be able to save her. I believed that they could.

I couldn’t escape from the capital.

Nobody was going to save me.

If Remilia really was executed then nobody would be able to stop the Fiend. Not just me, but Timu, Mum, Dad, everybody I loved would fall prey to him.

No! No! How could I possibly accept that!?

Then what was I going to do?

……

…………

………………

Killing him was the only way… It saddened me that it had come to this, but I would do it. Thankfully I had powerful allies. My only advantage against the Fiend. It was those two. Myuu and Edim.

As long as they took the head of the Fiend before tomorrow morning, it would all work out. Myuu was on adventurer business away from the Capital right now. Considering the time limit, he wasn’t an option.

That left Edim. Edim, who could either kill the Fiend or make him hers.

No, but even if he became her kin his personality wouldn’t change. It wasn’t a guarantee that she could control him even after turning him into a vampire. In fact, it could make things even worse by giving him more power.

Killing was the only way forward.

In that case we could use Orty’s political power too. I would send Edim’s power as a vampire to attack. In case that wasn’t enough, Orty would use his connections to send her support.

A plan for murder slowly began to coalesce in my mind…

Haha, I was disgusting…

After all that talk about wanting Edim to live as a human, in the end I relied on her power as a vampire. She was the type of girl who would happily agree as long as I asked for her to help me. Even though I couldn’t imagine she actually wanted to use any of these powers otherwise.

I’m sorry, Edim.

I was going to become a criminal. He may have been a brute, and a villain, but I was still planning a murder. Success or failure, I would be bearing the karma for this deed. If that was the case, then I hoped to limit the involved parties to the bare minimum.

I would talk to Orty and Edim about this. Nobody else had to know. And absolutely not Timu. I wanted her to live freely under the sunlight.

I was hesitant. Doing this would be bringing my dear friends Edim and Orty into this mess. But the Fiend was truly dangerous. It wouldn’t be just me. Everyone would come to harm by his hands. For Timu’s sake, I would become heartless.

Accomplice to murder? Fine with me. If it meant protecting my family, becoming a criminal was nothing!

I sent for Orty and Edim to meet me in one of the rooms.